Shortly after 7 this morning, workers in hard hats and orange vests started to arrive at 1268 Lombard St. About an hour later, electric saws could be heard behind plywood walls erected in front of the cottage. Two hours later, workers began removing windows, wrapping them in bubble wrap on the sidewalk. Work is also underway to preserve the cottage facade.

A handful of neighborhood activists and preservationists gathered in front of the building in silent protest. Alexandra Kienker held a sign that read, “Development laws apply to all. Where is DBI? City attorney?”

“By making it an emergency demolition order, they get to bypass all the normal procedures,” said Kienker, a Planning Department employee who took the day off work to protest as a private citizen.

The owners of the building, Michael Cassidy and James Nunemacher, have denied that they purposefully let the cottage fall apart. The cottage’s prior owners told The Chronicle that they sold the home because the high cost of needed maintenance work and repairs.

Several preservationists said demolition should have been delayed pending an investigation by the City Attorney’s Office into whether the owners had purposefully neglected the home. One of the protesters, Megan Smith “it will be a lot harder to find evidence once this is a vacant lot.”